Friday, December 13, 2013

Film Review: Art of the Devil (2004)

Boom
(Supaksorn Chaimongkol) finds herself pregnant by a married man,
Prathan, she met at a country club. She accepts a hefty payment for her
silence, but it backfires and leads to her imminent sexual assault. Boom
then decides to exact her revenge through vicious black magic...

Art of the Devil continues as Boom slaughters Prathan and his family.
Afterward, Prathan's ex-wife and her family are given his estate. Still
angered at Prathan's actions, and further angered by not receiving a
share of his estate, Boom decides to use black magic on his extended
family. Boom works herself into the family in hopes of inheriting the
estate, but with deadly methods. Not much goes on during the first two
acts that require the amount of time they take up. The final act brings
in more story and actual events, but it is sloppy, inconsistent, and
rushed. The ending makes sense in a way, but it's overly-complicated and
ineffective, anyway.

The biggest flaw in Art of the Devil is
its sloppy storytelling. It's told in flashbacks with the present in
black and white and the past in color, but many events aren't really
elaborated on or fully explained, anyway. Otherwise, there really isn't
much going on during the first hour or so, it feels bloated and
uneventful. The horror consists of gore and some creepy visuals.
Gorehounds will appreciate some of the vicious gore scenes, but I felt
like this element was underutilized. Likewise, the spooky imagery was
great, but underutilized. On top of that, the characters weren't
likeable or logical. Boom's initial intentions don't seem genuine,
especially considering how fast she accepts the money and her ultimate
motives. Meanwhile, Prathan's ex-wife feels "entitled" to something she
didn't work for. And her daughter, Nan, is illogical; if you get shot at
a few times, and the gun ends up in front of you, pick up the gun and
shoot your pursuer!

The acting was okay. Although I did enjoy
Supaksorn Chaimongkol, most of the acting is simply decent. The
cinematography is great during some scenes and just competent during
others. The editing is choppy and inconsistent, which also hurts the
general storytelling. The music fits the horror theme, but it isn't
memorable or unique. Tanit Jitnukul's direction is solid, as well, but
some of the editing choices ultimately effective the smoothness of his
ride. The Art of the Devil is apparently written by Ghost Gypsy, and
it's just too sloppy and overly-ambitious.

Overall, Art of the Devil
is a weak horror film. It isn't particularly scary, nor is it
really interesting. The story doesn't even delve deep into the black
magic, which certainly would've earned it bonus points. Unfortunately,
aside from a few spooky images and great gore gore effects, both of
which are underutilized, this film doesn't offer much. I'd recommend
streaming or renting before purchasing.